New AT&T Customers to Pay More for Texting

Bad news for potential AT&T customers: the communications giant has announced that it will be revising its text-messaging pricing to push customers towards its more expensive plans.

Where new customers could previously get 1,000 text messages for $10 a month, new customers will be stuck with a $20 a month unlimited plan or a $30 a month group plan, with a $.20 per message sent/received plan for those that don't do the texting thing.

The reason for this change, according to AT&T, is that "the vast majority" of their customers prefer unlimited plans. Of course, for AT&T, this revelation came at a most opportune time: with a pending merger with T-Mobile, the number four wireless carrier in the U.S., many transitioning customers will be stuck with a choice between the $20 unlimited plan or be slapped with $.20 on the bill for every text message they send or receive. Without serious tracking of text messaging habits, many customers will default to the unlimited plan.

The new pricing scheme comes on the heels of a recent announcement
by the wireless carrier that "unlimited" phone data plans will be
throttled when a user goes over an as-yet unknown cap. The cap, which is
being put in place to "manage exploding demand for mobile data," goes
into effect on October 1.